One Candle One Family
by AK1028
Summary: It's time for a birthday dedication piece. I finished it early so I thought I share it with you a bit early as well. Enjoy, everyone! A young nineteen year old man figures out the meaning of the one candle on his birthday cake. Find out what he learned here! Please read & review! -And always think outside of the box! AU, based on my 'Cousins in Time' universe.
1. Chapter 1

**One Candle…One Family**

_Summary: This story is set in the main character's eyes and it is an alternate universe story as well. So, this is a point of view and it is a three-shot chapter story at that. I hope that you guys enjoy this and the main character's won't be revealed until the end of the story. He he. Please enjoy, everyone!_

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><p>Midnight...it was finally March 21, 2012. And it was my twentieth birthday. I couldn't wait until eight o'clock came. I was going to spend the entire day with my girl, my friends, and my sister. My life was good in my book. But it didn't always used to be this way. In fact, before I was taken in by my sister and my new parents; my old parents – my birth parents – always forgot my birthday. Every year I was either left alone with an evil babysitter...or just left alone period. That all changed when I met my sister. She was two years older than me and we had met...in the most unusual way.<p>

But, unusual or not, when my sister and I met...I knew...that we would be siblings forever – despite the fact that we weren't blood related. After a long court battle, I was accepted into my sister's family and became her younger brother. No more forgotten birthdays, no more evil babysitter, no more dream girls constantly rejecting me, and no more stalkers. I was free to be myself. And my new life was WAY better than my old one. I had wonderful friends, a wonderful girl, my wonderful family, and best of all; my sister had a wonderful guy. She was head over in heels in love with him.

Our dad wasn't too sure about her on-line romance but he grew to accept it. As for our mom, she knew how much my sister loved her boyfriend. My sister deserved happiness and if she ever needed me, I would fly to her side. I owe her that much... Without warning, I started to go down memory lane and I started to remember my birthday's past with my sister and my family. And it all started on my eleventh birthday, 19 years ago today...

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><p><strong>Eleventh birthday<strong>: _I was finally eleven years old…and it was my first birthday party with my new family. Gosh was I ever excited...and nervous! Granted, my old parents always forgot my birthday but I knew that my new parents wouldn't. All of the sudden, a weird sensation entered the bottom of my feet. __I__ was being tickled! I started to laugh and I woke up...seeing my twelve year old sister._

_ "Okay, okay, sis," I yelped, "I'm up!" _

_My sister laughed and asked, jokingly, "Then why are your eyes still closed?"_

_ I desperately tried opening my eyes but my sister was still tickling my feet._

_I giggled and answered, "Because you're tickling me too much, sis!" _

_My sister laughed as she stopped my torture. _

_"Aw," she pouted, joking around, "Does that mean that you don't like your birthday gift?" _

_My eyes shined – she remembered my birthday...?_

_"__You remember, sis," I asked, surprised. _

_"You bet I did," my sister answered, "I could never my brother's birthday." _

_I asked, raising an eyebrow, "But, sis. We aren't blood related. How could you not forget a person's birthday? A person that you don't even know, I might add?"_

_She told me, titling her head a bit, "You ask a lot of questions." _

_I responded, shrugging, "I just want a lot of answers." _

_She took a deep breath and told me, "I cannot forget a person that I love so much. I love you, bro and that's not going to change...at all."_

_I was touched by her words so touched in fact...that I started to cry. She wrapped her arms around me and started to stroke my hair. I was starting to calm down rather quickly, comforted by my sister's actions._

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><p><strong>Twelfth birthday<strong>: _My twelfth birthday! I was SO excited! Last year on my birthday, my parents took me to Chuck E. Cheese's. My__ sister and I spent the entire day playing together. It was like we were blood siblings after all. I couldn't wait to see what we were going to do this year. I felt someone shaking me. __I opened my eyes and saw my thirteen year old sister standing there. _

_I smiled and said, "Morning, sis." _

_"Morning birthday boy," she gushed, "Are you ready for your birthday bash?" _

_"Birthday bash," I questioned._

_ 'Why don't I like the sound of that,' I thought to myself._

_My sister nodded and answered, "Yeah. Mom and dad had a talk and they both agreed that this was the year that you meet your extended family." _

_I gulped...nervous. _

_"Sis," I said, shaking in nervous, "I don't know if I'm up for this." _

_My sister raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"_

_I answered, shaking, "I'm nervous. I don't think I'm up for meeting them." I quickly put the covers up over my head. I added, "Just tell mom and dad that I'm sick."_

_ "I ain't going to lie," she responded, taking the covers off of me. That's when she looked me straight in the eye...green eyes to blue eyes. __Her glasses might've blocked the sparkle in her emerald eyes but I knew that she was just trying to help me. She sat down next to me and added, "I'll be there with you when you meet them. There's no need to be nervous."_

_I looked at her and asked, "You promise not to leave my side?" _

_"I promise," she responded, crossing her heart. _

_I smiled at her, grateful that she was staying by my side...just like a big sister._

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><p><strong>Thirteenth birthday<strong>: _Thirteen years old...I was going to be thirteen! Gosh, I couldn't believe that another year flew by so quickly. Last year, I had met my extended family. I was rather shy meeting them all for the first time but once I got to know them...I noticed that I was spending less time with my sister...and more time with them. __Things were going rather smoothly I thought. That's when I felt something strange with my feet yet again. I started laughing and I woke up immediately. I saw my fourteen year old sister tickling my feet...like she did on my eleventh birthday._

_I was laughing a lot and I begged, "Ah, c'mon, sis! Cut it out!"_

_"Not until you say uncle," she responded. _

_Just by the sound of her voice, I could tell that she was smirking up a storm. That's when I decided that it was time for her to visit the streets of pay and back. I started to tickle HER. She started to laugh, immediately stopping her tickling. _

_She laughed, "Bro...c'mon! I give! Cut it out!"_

_I ignored her...until she hit me with a pillow. Acting like I was mad, I grabbed a pillow too and started to hit her with it. She looked mad but she was still laughing. And that's when our tickle fight turned into a pillow fight. Eventually, both pillows exploded and feathers came down like snow. __Both my sister and I were laughing up a storm as we got covered with feathers._

_My sister pointed out, "I think we're going to be in BIG trouble for this..." _

_"I blame you for this, sis," I said, jokingly. _

_She pretended to be hurt but her smile wasn't fooling me...for I was smiling too. __I picked feathers out of my sisters hair, laughing still. She did the same thing with me and she was still laughing as well._

_"Best birthday EVER," I told her._

_ "You said it, bro," my sister responded, smiling__, "You said it!"_

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><p><strong>Fourteenth birthday<strong>: _Finally...fourteen! Oh gosh, this is going to be the year that my life would change forever, I just knew it! Last year, my sister and I got into this big pillow fight. We didn't get into a lot of trouble – we just had to clean up our mess afterwards. __I thought that was fair enough but that didn't mean that I couldn't cause trouble for my sister. I felt a soft hand on my shoulder, rubbing it gently and slowly. I groaned a little as I woke up to my fifteen year old sister...who seemed like she was gulping down tears._

_"Sis," I had asked, frightened, "What's the matter?"_

_She kneeled down to my eye level, literally choking back tears._

_ "Dad told me that it is time that I told you what is happening to mom," she said, pure sadness in her voice. _

_I grimaced. I already knew. It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was just not right. __I took my sister's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze._

_"I already know," I told her, "And I don't want to be told on my birthday." _

_My sister nodded in agreement and responded, "I know. I told dad the same thing." _

_"But he didn't listen to you," I pointed out, wisely. __She nodded. I responded, putting my free hand on her cheek, "I say we pretend that you told me after a few minutes of me pretending to cry in your shirt." _

_"Only I would be crying into yours," she asked me figuring out the rest of my plan...just like Radar in M*A*S*H._

_To that question, I nodded. It was the least I could do for her, my older sister. She gently put her head into my chest and just started to cry. I couldn't help myself...I eventually joined her and I started to cry my eyes out along with my older sister._

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><p><em>Everyone: Please read &amp; review! <em>_And think outside of the box!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Fifteenth birthday**: _Fifteen, I couldn't believe it! I was finally a teen! I felt like dancing in the street...nah, people will think I'm weird. Although, last year, my sister and I had a solemn time together mainly because we were saddened that our father wanted my sister to tell me the truth about our mother on my birthday. I already knew. __It was oblivious. Mom had been sick along time long before I became apart of this family. I was ready to spend the day with my family...in the best way possible. I was thinking of playing with my sister all day along. Maybe a tickle or a pillow fight. Unforentaly, life didn't agree with me as someone was shaking me rather harshly._

_Someone was trying to wake me up, badly. Something was terribly wrong, I could just sense it. Even my head started to pound...and badly at that. 'What the heck,' I wondered. _

_"Bro," my sister yelped, "Wake up, this is an emergency!" _

_'So I can tell,' I joked in my mind. __I woke up, rather groggily I might add, and faced my sixteen year old sister. She looked shaky and scared. _

_I asked, groggy, "Sis, what's wrong?" _

_"Your parents...your birth parents are here," she answered, yelping still. _

_My eyes shot open and I sat up on my bed, almost instantly._

_"Please tell me that you're joking," I begged. When my sister didn't answer; I begged again, "Please, please!" _

_"I'm afraid I'm not, birthday boy," she answered, yelping even more._

_ "Give me a few seconds to get dressed, sis," I told her. _

_She nodded and left my room so I could get dressed. __After throwing on my favorite outfit and hat; I headed out with my older sister. I clenched a fist, determined as we headed out together. If they were here to try and get me to be their son again, they were in for one heck of a fight!_

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><p><strong>Sixteenth birthday<strong>: _Sixteen candles, er, actually...one candle. That was how many candles were on my cake this year, just like in years passed. My seventeen year old sister was next to me, as per usual. But next to her were my birth parents. I couldn't help but snarl at them under my breath. __Last year, they had shown up without warning and thought it was best if they could get to know my new family and my new life. Both my sister and I were against this from the start as were my new parents. I even saw my sister hissing at them under her breath. But that's when something wonderful happened._

_My godparents and my god brother had shown up and convinced my birth parents that their presence at my birthday party last and this year was uncalled for. My birth parents left after that and I was thankful to my godparents and my god brother for standing up to them when my sister and I had decided to keep it quiet._

_M__y godmother said, "Oh, it was no trouble, you two. We were glad to do it! They needed to hear the truth anyways." _

_"What was the truth again," my godfather asked, confused. _

_My god brother sighed, annoyed as my sister rolled her eyes at my godfather. After a long pause, my sister turned to me._

_"Your godmother has a good point, bro," my sister said, smiling. She put her hand on my shoulder and added; smiling getting bigger still, "Now we can really have a party with your godparents and your god brother here!"_

_I shook my head and responded, "No, sis. They aren't my godparents. They are my second pair of parents." _

_My godmother smiled the biggest smile I had seen on her as did my godfather and god brother. Everyone hugged me, even my frail mom. I smiled at this. Life was good._

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><p><strong>Seventeenth birthday<strong>: _I couldn't believe it! I was seventeen today! And the best part was that I was spending it…not only with my eighteen year old sister...but with my best friends as well. Last year, my godparents and my god brother had shooed away my birth parents away from me – when my sister and I were pretending to be nice. __I was alone right now, walking home from school when I ran into my birth mother. She and my so called birth father had moved into town last year on my birthday. I gulped, praying that I wouldn't have to talk to her. I had nothing to say. __As far as I was concerned, my mom was sick and she wasn't getting any better._

_ My birth mom did see me but I think she read in my eyes that I didn't want to talk to her. __That...and my sister had caught up to me. _

_"Bro," she called out, "Wait up!"_

_ 'Gladly,' I thought, really not wanting to be alone in this rather awkward moment. __When she caught up to me, she saw my birth mom. She turned white as a ghost...and I did not blame her. Not in the least. _

_"Hello, dear," my birth mom said to her, in a rather nice voice._

_ I wasn't buying it though but my sister, being the polite one, decided to acknowledge her._

_"Greetings," she said, bowing out of respect. __That was the one thing I admired about my sister. __She always showed her respect. __Even if she knew the person was a total jerk...like my birth mom and my birth dad. __She added, straightening up, "Well, I don't want to be rude, but my brother and I have to get home." _

_"I understand," my birth mom said, who then turned to me. _

_I looked at her, wondering what she was going to say to me..._

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><p><strong>Eighteenth birthday<strong>: _Eighteen...I was eighteen today! Whoo, this was going to be great! I was going to vote, I was going to drive...and I was going to go to college! Me – a college man! Last year on my birthday, my sister and I had run into my birth mother. And I finally found the courage and the strength to tell her off. __She and my birth father had left the very next week after that. My sister, who was nineteen years old now, was proud of me. I was too. Currently, I was scoping out the colleges that I wanted to attend. I didn't want to go far away...my family needed me. That's when my sister...and my secret crush came over._

_"Stumped, huh," my sister asked. _

_I nodded and asked her, "How'd you pick Medaille?"_

_ "Well, Medaille offered the department that I wanted to go into...communications," my sister answered. _

_"What do you want to do," my secret crush asked. _

_I blushed and answered, "I'm not sure but right now, I know what I want to do."_

_"And what's that," she asked, looking at me with those gorgeous blue eyes of hers._

_ I answered, looking at my sister, "Spend my birthday with my sister." _

_My sister shook her head and responded, "Nah, you and her need to spend some alone time together. I'll check you at home." _

_With that, my sister started to get up._

_"Or we could spend your birthday together," my secret crush offered, which stopped my sister from leaving. _

_"You mean that," I asked. _

_And when she nodded, my heart was light. I was falling in love... __My sister rolled her eyes at me. She might've not found that special someone yet...but...I knew if there was hope for me...there was hope for my sister. 'She deserves happiness in either event,' I thought, 'She's a great friend, a great listener, and a great older sister.'_

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><p><strong>Nineteenth birthday<strong>: _Wow, I couldn't believe it! I was finally nineteen! And...I was in college! And not just any college...I was at my sister's college! That's right; I was attending college. I was studying to be a psychology major. And I thought I was a pretty decent major...and interesting at that. __Last year, I was trying to figure out where I was going to attend college but now I've figured out. My girl was attending as well – which thrilled me to no ends. Right now, I was about to drive to meet up with my girl but my car didn't want to start! _

_I groaned, "Ah, man! C'mon, not today!"_

_"And yet you wonder why I don't drive," said a female voice. _

_I spun around and saw my twenty year old sister standing there. _

_"Hey, sis," I greeted, groaning still. _

_My sister smiled and asked, "Might I make a suggestion, bro?" _

_"Sure," I answered. _

_She smiled and responded, "Smack your head on the steering wheel."_

_I shot her a look and asked, "Did you get that from 'Back to the Future: Part I'?" _

_"Yup," she answered, smirking._

_ I rolled my eyes, jokingly. But I decided to try it. I smacked my head on the steering wheel, hitting the horn. My car started up instantly and I was surprised. 'Total BTTF reference,' I thought._

_My sister was smirking and she told me, "See? It helps to be like Marty McFly every once in a while." _

_I shot her another look but before she left, I said, "Thanks sis." _

_"Anytime," she responded._

_ I asked, "Do you want a ride?" __She looked at me and smiled. She got into my car. I added, jokingly, "I'll take that as a 'no'."_

_My sister laughed at my joke as did I. I drove my car off for home...to drop my sister off first so she could watch mom while I went out with my girl. _

_"You something, sis," I said. _

_"Hm," she asked. _

_"I am pretty blessed," I answered._

_ She just smiled._

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><p><em>Everyone: Please read and review! And think outside of the box!<em>


	3. Chapter 3

A lot had happened over the years...as I reflected. I was finally able to understand why there was one candle the cake. Just then, my twenty one year old sister leaned over the side of our twin bunk bed.

She asked me, holding her cell phone, "What are you doing up?"

Her voice was lowered so she wouldn't wake up our folks.

"Just couldn't sleep anymore is all," I answered, truthfully.

"Okay," she responded, "You can join me once I turn off my phone and hook it up to the charger."

I nodded as she came down the ladder and plugged her phone into her charger. She went back up to her bed and I followed her, like I usually did when I was scared.

"Everything cool," I asked when I got up to where she was.

She nodded and answered, with a blush, "Everything's fine."

I smiled and responded, "That's great, sis. I'm glad that you've got someone like him in your life."

"I know, right," she told me, blushing, "I can't believe that I've got someone like him in my life."

I chuckled a bit, trying not to wake our parents.

I slid next to her and asked, "If you could go and see him over the summer, would you?"

"In heartbeat," she answered, blushing still, "And if I had my license."

I smiled at this and offered, "I could drive you down there, sis."

She looked at me, surprised by my offer, I could tell. _'Hey,'_ I thought, _'it is the least I can do. After all, you saved my life.' _

"You mean that," she asked me, her blush getting even bigger.

I smiled and answered, "You bet I do, sis."

She wrapped her right arm around me and responded, smiling at me, "You know, you are the coolest baby brother I ever had."

I blushed now and told her, "Sis, I'm the ONLY baby brother you've ever had."

"That's true," she said, with a giggle.

I giggled too. I then realized something.

I told her, "And I finally figured out what the one candle on the cake means."

"Then go ahead and explain, bro," she told me, giving me the _'go ahead'_ gesture.

I took a deep breath and I explained, "The one candle on the cake represents the one family that you have in life. I mean, I've got you, your brother and sister, your nieces and nephew, my friends, my girl, your guy, and your friends. And you guys are all like family to me."

I had a tear in my eye, which she saw.

She pointed out, pointing at me, in a joking kind of way, "You have yet to explain the meaning of the one candle on the cake."

I responded, "Well, here it is." I paused to take a deep breath. After I did that, I decided to explain my discovery to her and explained, "The one candle on the cake represents one family. A family that will stick by you through the bad times, the good times, and the times yet to be. Family will always be there for you, through thick and thin. O'hana means family...no one gets left behind...or forgotten."

My sister smiled at me, tearing a bit.

"Congrads, Timmy," she said, "You've FINALLY answered all of your questions."

"All except one, Am," I responded, smiling.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what might that be, sport?"

I wrap my arm around her and answered, with my own question, "Will you be my sister...forever?"

She seemed really touched by this as she responded, tearing more now, "You bet I will be."

I hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go. She held me just as tightly. I never wanted to let go...and I knew that she didn't want to let go either. It was going to be another great birthday. I could just tell. I had that feeling...

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><p>Later that day, I got a surprise of my own.<p>

"Surprise," said everyone.

My friends, my girl, my family, and my godparents were there...with a huge ice cream cake...and one birthday candle, as per usual. I smiled. Was this really what I thought this was...?

"Happy birthday," everyone shouted.

I was in shock!

"What's all this," I asked.

"Your surprise party, son," my dad answered.

"And your sister planned all of this out," my girl added.

I turned to my sister and asked, "You didn't?"

She nodded and answered, "I did."

"You didn't have to," I told her.

"I wanted to," she said, smiling.

I hugged my older sister with all of my strength.

"C-can't breathe," she said, sounding horse.

I pulled away and apologized, "Sorry, sis."

"That's okay, bro," she responded, with a smile.

"I love you, Amie _"Am"_ June Kuhn," I said to my older sister.

"And I love you, Timothy _"Timmy"_ Tiberius Turner-Kuhn," my older sister said to me.

It might not have been a happily ever after just yet, but I knew that eventually, we would both get it. Because, without a doubt, we both deserved it. But she deserved it more than I did. After all, she had saved my life. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would've made it this far. Without warning, I went down memory lane...

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><p><em>It was my tenth birthday. And it had been forgotten...again. I was seriously getting annoyed with it...so, I had decided to run away with my FAIRY godparents: Cosmo and Wanda. Wanda nagged at me about doing this but Cosmo was just excited about a road trip. <em>_I finally got to a town called Buffalo, New York. __It was known as 'The City of Good Neighbors'._

_Cosmo wondered, "I wondered why they call bors neigh..." _

_I just rolled my eyes. Sometimes I wondered why I put up with him...and Wanda for that matter. But, putting that aside, I decided to explore a little bit... I just didn't know that my life would change...forever. __As I continued with my adventure I bumped into an eleven year old girl. She had long brown hair, green eyes that were hidden behind glasses, wearing a white shirt, navy blue jeans, and black shoes. She was also wearing a purple winter jacket and a purple backpack. _

_"I'm so sorry about that," I apologized._

_"No, no," she responded, "My fault. Completely my fault." _

_I don't know what came over me but I had decided to introduce myself to her._

_ "Timmy Turner," I introduced, smiling a bit. _

_"Amie Kuhn," she responded, smiling back at me. __We shook hands after that. Her gloved covered hand to mine uncovered hand. __She then studied my clothes and asked, "Uh, why are you wearing a short sleeved shirt in the beginning of this VERY cold spring?" _

_I answered, trying not to be bitter, "My parents don't really care about me so why should I care about myself." _

_She looked at me and I saw the tears of guilt in her eyes. __I've seen that look before but people always tried to hide it from me. But, seeing that she had just met me..._

_"I'm so sorry," she apologized, taking off her scarf, "I didn't know."_

_ I didn't look at her, just at my new surroundings. That's when I saw a scarf in front of my face...and Amie was offering it to me._

_"Take it and be warm," she told me. _

_I stared at the scarf for what seemed like forever. __I took it, in a daze. She just offered a piece of her warmth to warm a perfect stranger. 'Maybe that's what that sign meant by 'The City of Good Neighbors',' I thought, 'One thing is for sure, Amie just showed it.'_

_She spoke up again, "Would you like to come with me to my house and have some hot chocolate?" _

_My eyes lighted up when she said that._

_ "Sounds great," I responded, with a sneeze._

_ Just when things couldn't get any better nor stranger, Amie gave me a warm hug. __I settled into her arms, feeling protected, safe...and loved._

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><p>I got out of my flashback as my friends and my girl surrounded me. They all gave me hugs. My girl gave me kiss. I loved that present. Later on that day, after everyone had left, me and my sister were alone in the kitchen.<p>

"I really enjoyed this birthday, sis," I told her.

"That's good cause I planned this for awhile now," my sister responded.

I smiled and pointed out, "But you didn't have to do that just for me."

My sister wrapped her right arm around me and pulled me to her.

She rubbed my right arm and told me, "I wanted to, bro."

I smiled at her and then asked, "You do anything for me, wouldn't you?"

"You bet I would," she answered, "I think I've proved that time and time again."

"You even helped me keep Cosmo and Wanda," I added, smiling more.

"I wanted to," she responded, smiling at me, "That jarhead had NO right taking them away from you."

"I agree," I said, smiling more.

My sister smiled more as well and asked, "You ready to go your party at Kids Network Studios?"

"You bet I am," I answered, grabbing her wrist and dragging her out of the door.

She giggled as I dragged her to the studios. My older sister, Amie _"Am"_ June Kuhn, may she always have happiness. ALWAYS.

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><p><em>Everyone: Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!<em>

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><p><em>-In honor of my sick mom, Ranee Denise Kuhn. I hope all of your prayers are helping her! AK1028 signing out.<em>


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